On Sunday, Senate Democrats voted to pass one of the most significant climate, healthcare, and tax reform packages this country has seen in decades: the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). This bill now awaits a vote in the House (where it is extremely likely to pass) before it moves to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The passage of the IRA is cause for … Continue reading The Inflation Reduction Act is a very, very big deal
After endless negotiations to get Senator Joe Manchin on board with a compromised reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act is now in peril thanks to Arizona Senator (and notorious corporate shill) Kyrsten Sinema. As Democrats scramble to finalize details of the bill, reports indicate that Sinema is demanding Democrats strip provisions that would limit the scope of the carried interest loophole, which allows wealthy private … Continue reading Sinema’s Defense of Carried Interest is Indefensible
After over a year of dead ends, false starts, and frustrating negotiations, it looks like Democrats may finally be close to passing a reconciliation bill. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin reached an agreement on a new reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a shocking development considering that Manchin publicly voiced his opposition to such a package just two weeks ago. … Continue reading Can Democrats finally rally behind the Inflation Reduction Act?
Last week, Senator Manchin blindsided his Democratic colleagues when he reversed course on his previous demands that their agenda be focused on tax reform and declared that he would not vote to raise taxes on the rich or massive corporations. In doing so, he dashed Democrats’ hopes to pass any sort of meaningful tax legislation before November. He also ironically proved, by showing the country … Continue reading Joe Manchin Just Showed Why We Need the OLIGARCH Act
It’s been a big week for economic news. From drama in Congress over the Build Back Better negotiations to continued economic strife affecting working Americans to new tax benefits offered to the rich, our economy is steadily moving in further favor of the wealthy, and the federal government appears ill-equipped to rise to the occasion. This week, we’ll look into how our current economy, policies, … Continue reading The Economy is Bad. Congress Needs to Fix It
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Senate Democrats have re-engaged in negotiations with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin over passing a “skinny” version of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act. Manchin was one of the primary reasons the original Build Back Better Act failed to advance through the Senate after passing the House, so if Senate Democrats can get him on board, there’s good reason to believe Biden’s would-be signature economic … Continue reading Dems can’t let Sinema kill their last chance to tax the rich
I am joining the Patriotic Millionaires for one big reason: sitting on the sidelines and watching is no longer an option – at least not for me. An increasing number of our fellow citizens feel disparaged by an economy and a politics that offers little or no security, that rewards the few and ignores the many, and that erodes our confidence in those who are … Continue reading Why I’m a Patriotic Millionaire: Andrew Ellis
Even though Congress is out of session this week, the fight for fair taxation continues. House and Senate Democrats are still deciding what to do with the State and Local Tax (SALT) cap, which sets a limit on the amount of state and local taxes that taxpayers can deduct from their federal tax bills. The House plan would raise the cap from $10,000 to $80,000, … Continue reading Want to fix the economy? Tax the rich
Momentum is building this week in Congress behind President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda as House and Senate Democrats negotiate how they are going to raise revenue linked to the roughly $2 trillion new spending that the reconciliation bill would introduce. Yesterday, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden officially unveiled his Billionaires Income Tax plan which, as we highlighted earlier this week, would tax the richest Americans … Continue reading Corporate Minimum Tax and Millionaire Surtax Highlight Biden’s Reconciliation Framework
This week, the Patriotic Millionaires are on tour in West Virginia! We’re stopping at Joe Manchin’s district offices, college campuses, local restaurants, theaters, and street festivals across the state, speaking to Manchin’s constituents directly about the pressing need to fix our rigged tax code and get Senator Manchin on board with a full $3.5 trillion dollar Build Back Better Agenda. You can keep up with … Continue reading Spotlight on West Virginia and Arizona
Last night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced to her caucus that she plans to bring the bipartisan infrastructure bill up for a vote this Thursday, separate from the budget reconciliation package. This stands in direct contrast to the agreement reached within the Democratic caucus that both bills would proceed simultaneously, and must be rejected by all Democrats who care about advancing the party’s full … Continue reading No Infrastructure without Reconciliation
Recently, a group of nine moderate and conservative Democrats voiced their opposition to the tactics Democrats are using to pass two bills simultaneously: a limited bi-partisan infrastructure package, and a more ambitious reconciliation package designed to pass with only Democratic votes. In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they stated they planned to withhold their vote on the budget package if the infrastructure bill was … Continue reading America Needs Democratic Unity
We’re finally reaching the point where real economic change is on the horizon through the upcoming infrastructure and reconciliation bills. During this time it can be hard to clearly see progress with all the confusion and noise of Washington. Debates about government spending have often been dominated by concerns from conservatives and moderate politicians. Even still, we have to remember that making investments that will … Continue reading Spending versus Investments, the Great Debate
Earlier this week, after months of negotiations, a bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in the Senate. This was followed quickly by a $3.5 trillion budget that sets the stage for Democrats to pass a reconciliation bill that would make one of the largest investments in American families in the last half century. But while we’re in a moment of great opportunity, there are, as always, many … Continue reading Overcoming the Opposition
Yesterday, after weeks of deliberation, a bipartisan committee of Senators finally proposed the beginnings of an infrastructure bill. This bill failed to do one thing that Americans have been asking of their representatives; tax the rich. Simply shifting money around and pointing the blame at unemployed Americans in a global crisis is just another way of burdening regular people with paying more than their fair … Continue reading Democrats Must Tax the Rich to Pay for Roads
Our history of space travel is a catalog of humanity’s greatest achievements. When the Soviets put a satellite in orbit, that was a first. Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard touched space 60 years ago, our first-ever star voyagers. NASA – a publicly funded agency staffed with the best and brightest American minds – put Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon, and got them … Continue reading Don’t Be Impressed with the Space Billionaires
The bipartisan infrastructure deal that Senate Democrats, Republicans, and President Joe Biden agreed on last week looks like it may already be in danger. With Democratic leadership promising to link the bipartisan bill to a larger reconciliation bill that includes more progressive priorities and tax hikes on the rich, and Republicans threatening to back out if Democrats pair the two bills together, there’s a lot … Continue reading What You Need to Know About the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal
With only 50 Democrats in the Senate, supporters of President Biden’s COVID relief package don’t have the 60 votes necessary to overcome the filibuster and pass it as standard legislation. They also haven’t demonstrated a willingness to abolish the filibuster, leaving Senate Dems with one option: budget reconciliation. This process allows a simple majority to pass legislation by incorporating it into the budget, but it … Continue reading Parliamentarians, Byrd rule, and reconciliation
I’m 53 and my wife and our two kids and I live in urban Denver. We are financially fortunate and thanks to two good incomes, decent investments, smart work and luck, we are what I call garden variety millionaires. My wife is an M.D. and I’m an MBA from a non-fancy non-top 25 school. I considered myself politically engaged and a proud and active member … Continue reading Why I’m a Patriotic Millionaire: Ron Guillot
It’s clear that Trump isn’t just going to go away. He’s going to continue to fuel the fires of conspiracy theories and white supremacy once he’s finally removed from office.